Never Forget
by BigTimeNinjaXD
Summary: When returning form his three year journey with Jiraya, Naruto is captured by Akatsuki. Will his friends be able to rescue him? What if he lost all memories of who he was and who they were? NaruSaku
1. Chapter 1

Never Forget: Chapter One

Sakura stood at the gates of Konoha. She was waiting for Naruto, her goofy baka to come home. It had been three years since he had left to train with Jiraiya, and he was supposed to come back any day now. She missed him, as much as she hated to admit it, she missed him and couldn't wait for him to get back. But as the morning passed to night, no one came.

The next day, no one came.

The next week, no one came.

It had been 9 days since he was supposed to come back. She was about to leave for the day when she saw a person running towards the village. _Come on, it HAS to be you, Naruto_ she thought. The figure came closer and closer until it was clear to her that it was not Naruto. It was … Jiraiya?

"Jiraiya-sama!" she called out. Then she saw how torn up he was. He was scraped, bruised, and it looked like he was now limping. "Jiraiya-sama! Are you alright? Where's Naruto?"

"Take me to Tsunade" he said wearily.

They arrived at the Hokage's office near nine o' clock. Tsunade was still working, but was shocked when she saw Jiraiya. She quickly healed him, then asked him what had happened.

"Well, Naruto and I were running back to the village, when we were attacked by Akatsuki. There were two of them, and they were S-ranked criminals. Naruto knew that we didn't stand a chance. He also knew that they were after the nine-tails inside of him. We tried to fight for a while, but they were winning. Naruto saw this, and…he…he made me come back to get back up, while he is still fighting them. We have to hurry, otherwise they will kill him." Said Jiraiya

"How long ago was this?" asked Tsunade.

"only just under a day, so we still have a chance to save him." Said Jiraya.

Sakura couldn't speak. She couldn't think. _Naruto? Dead? No, not yet. Not yet? How can we save him? HE always saves ME! Im too weak! But I have to help him!_ "Tsunade-sama. Please send me on a team to help Naruto."

"Sakura, you do realize that it might be too late right? You have to understand that if Akatsuki has won, and extracted the nine-tails, then Naruto will be dead. I don't want this to upset you so that you lose focus and get yourself killed." Said Tsunade.

"Yes. I understand." Said Sakura.

"Right. The team will set out in two hours. It will consist of Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, and Kakashi. Sakura, I will leave it to you to tell them. Good Luck." Tsunade said.

Sakura ran to everyone, telling them what happened. She then told them to meet at the gate in two hours, ready to go.

After two hours, they were all ready to go. Neji, Hinata, and Kiba tracked Jiraiya's scent to the battlegrounds in the middle of the forest.

It was torn apart. Trees were smashed, craters were formed in the ground, and there was blood everywhere. Mostly Naruto's blood. They looked around to see if he was passed out anywhere. He wasn't. But Sakura did find something else. Naruto's Konoha leaf headband. It was laying in one of the craters with blood splattered all over it. She picked it up, and felt herself starting to cry. Everyone ran over to her.

"Sakura, this doesn't mean anything. He probably just forgot it when he got away." Kakashi lied. _There is no way that he got away…_ he thought.

"come on Sakura, stop crying. If you're gonna save Naruto, then you can't waste time crying!" said Ino.

"y-yeah, thanks. We have to go save him now." She said, wiping away her tears.

They headed along the path of blood that lead to some cliffs. However they were stopped when the Hyugas warned them of incoming shinobi. They stopped, and were surprised to see the sand ninjas.

"I heard Naruto was in trouble. We wish to assist you in his retrieval." Said Gaara, while his siblings nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but we're almost there." Said Kakashi.

They headed off in the direction of Naruto's scent. They ran until they got to a sealed cave.

"Naruto, he's inside! But, his chakra, it's being sucked out of him." Said Neji.

_Shit! Are we too late? Just hang on Naruto! _Kakashi thought.

tbc...


	2. Chapter 2

_Previous chapter:_

"Naruto, he's inside! But, his chakra, it's being sucked out of him." Said Neji.

_Shit! Are we too late? Just hang on Naruto! _Kakashi thought.

Never Forget: Chapter Two

"Sakura, Ino, I need both of you to hit this boulder as hard as you can. There are not seals, possibly because they were in a hurry. "Said Kakashi.

They ran up to the boulder and smashed it with their fists. They had to try it three times before the rock finally crumbled. The cave opened into a giant room with a huge statue, with nine eyes and ten fingers.

On seven of the fingers, there were holographic Akatsuki members, which they wouldn't have to battle, and two real members, who they WOULD have to fight.

There was Naruto. He was in a giant ball of red chakra floating in the air. His back was arched and his eyes scrunched shut. They could hear him trying to hold back screams, which he then failed at doing so. It was a heart-wrenching scream. All of his friends knew he was in pain, and it was up to them to stop it.

The two members who were real stood in place on two of the fingers. , "that's it!" said Shikamaru. "If we can just move those two, then they have to stop their ritual! We have to get them to move away."

"Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru: you three attack the one with the blond hair. Hinata, Kiba and Neji: you three attack the one in the puppet." Ordered Kakashi. "I'm going to try to get Naruto once they break the jutsu."

The six shinobi ran towards the S-ranked criminals. They looked beaten up, and like they didn't want to battle.

"Pein! We have to abandon the sealing of the nine-tails! There's back-up, and I know we can't take it after what that brat did to us!"

"Alright, just abandon for now. We will find a new location for sealing it next time…and Deidara, you idiot, why not try leaving less of a trail?" Shouted their leader.

With that, the two criminals disappeared into thin air. The six ninja attacking stopped dead in their tracks. They looked up to find Naruto falling fast towards the ground. Kakashi was too far away and didn't reach him in time. He landed on the ground with a sickening _thud._

"NARUTO!" They all ran over to him.

When they got closer, they realized how badly hurt he really was. He was bleeding heavily from what looked like kunai wounds, he was bruised and some of his bones were broken.

"Naruto! Naruto wake up!" Sakura said as she kneeled next to him. "Please wake up!" She picked his head up and cradled it. "Naruto, oh Naruto, please, Naruto, please no…" She chanted as she rocked back and forth. "Sakura, we have to heal him" said Ino. She began to check his vital signs. They were weak. His breathing was shallow and ragged, almost like he was gasping for air. His heart was beating slowly, and he barely had a pulse. "Sakura! Help me! His heart is barely beating, and I am pretty sure that one of the kunai wounds pierced his lung, and its filling up with blood! We cant fully heal him, but we have to heal him enough to get him to Tsunade-sama." Said Ino.

They worked on healing him for 10 minutes.

"ok, he's stable, but we have to get him to Konoha now, or else…" said Sakura, holding back tears. Naruto was alive, but barely. He was pale, cold, and unconscious. He could be dead. He still could die, before they get to Konoha.

"I'll carry him back." Said Kakashi.

They all ran for over a day, straight to Konoha. They only stopped to rest, and in that time, Ino and Sakura took turns in checking if Naruto was ok.

They reached the gate of Konoha, and it started raining. Kakashi, Sakura, and Ino ran to the hospital with Naruto on Kakashi's back. Tsunade arrived in the emergency room in two minutes.

"Get him into the operating room! NOW!" she shouted at the hospital workers.

They were in the operating room for 5 hours before Tsunade came out.

"I have good news and bad news." She began. "The good news is that we've stopped all bleeding and he's in a stable condition."

"What's the bad news?" said Sakura

She sighed. "The bad news is that… right now, he's in a coma, and I have no idea when or if he will wake up..."


	3. Chapter 3

_Previous chapter:_

"I have good news and bad news." She began. "The good news is that we've stopped all bleeding and he's in a stable condition."

"What's the bad news?" said Sakura

She sighed. "The bad news is that… right now, he's in a coma, and I have no idea when or if he will wake up..."

Never Forget: Chapter Three

Everyone was shocked. They knew that it had been bad, but to think that their loud-mouthed, goofy, unpredictable comrade was in a coma, and might never wake up...

"Also, there is an 86% chance that he lost all of his memories. When they went into him to get the Kyuubi, they also took over his mind." She said, voice breaking at the end of the sentence.

"c-can w-we s-see h-him?" asked Sakura, on the brink of tears.

"yes, you can see him." Tsunade said.

They entered the room. The curtains were pulled together, so you could only slightly see the rain falling. There was the bed, with a broken Naruto on it. Or was he Naruto? If he's just a body asleep, or if he doesn't have memories, is he really Naruto? It didn't matter to her, he was Naruto. He was lying still in his bed. His heart monitor beeped slowly, not a really good sign. There was a stand, where blood was being put back into his pale body. His right leg was in a cast, and the rest of him was covered in bandages. Nobody liked the sight of their friend like this, so most of them only stayed for a few hours, because it upset them.

Sakura stayed for hours, so did Kakashi. This was the first time they had seen him in three years, and could it be the last?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -4 weeks later - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Naruto…please…just wake up! Please…for me?"

Sakura was in the hospital visiting Naruto again. She visited every day. She had a good feeling about this day though. She hoped something would happen. She held his hand in her own. She stroked his head, moving the hair out of his face. She heard the door open, and saw Kakashi come in.

"Sakura…any changes with Naruto?"

She looked at Naruto and solemnly shook her head. Then she saw Naruto's eyelids flicker.

"Naruto! Naruto, wake up! Please! Wake up! Please Naruto!" she begged.

His eyes slowly opened to the fluorescent light of the hospital room. He saw a girl, a girl with pink hair, and a silver haired man in a mask. The girl was crying.

"W-where am I?" he asked.

"Naruto! You're awake! I'd better go tell Tsunade-sama." Said Kakashi as he rushed out of the room.

"Naruto, you're in the hospital. Don't you remember?" said Sakura.

"N-no, I don't remember… anything" he replied.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked gently.

"n-no, I'm sorry." He said, sounding depressed.

Kakashi then returned, with Tsunade, Jiraya, and Shizune with him. Tsunade ran over and hugged Naruto.

"Thank God Naruto!" she said.

"um…who are you?" he said.

"no…Naruto…you, you really don't remember anything?" Tsunade said tearfully.

"uh, no, I don't…I'm sorry…" he said.

"well, for starters, Im Kakashi, your old sensei. This is your trainer for the past three years, Jiraya. The woman hugging you to death is Tsunade-sama, our hokage. This is Shizune, her assistant, and another maedic nin. Finally, that is Sakura. She probably wants to strangle-hug you to death too." Said Kakashi. Sakura glared at him.

"well, for now, Naruto should get some rest." Said Shizune.

Tsunade let go of Naruto. "yes, um, right! Rest up Naruto!", and with that everyone left. Everyone but Sakura.

"Naruto, can you try to remember me? I'll look a little different in your memories, since that was three years ago, but... can you try?" Sakura asked.

"Okay Sakura-chan, oh sorry, I don't know why I said –chan, I just remember that…" Naruto said.

"No, that's great! You ALWAYS called me Sakura-chan!" she said.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to remember things. "Well, I remember three posts in a training field, and im tied to the middle one… a man with a big sword, and a boy with dark hair and a blue shirt with you, me and Kakashi. I think you called him Sasuke…also, I remember a sand monster, it's hurting you so I stopped it…then, why am I fighting Sasuke?...oh, he won…then there is that man with the white ponytail, Jiraiya? We are battling men in black and red cloaks…that's it."

_So he remembers the training grounds, Zabuza, Sasuke, Gaara, and fighting them. _She thought.

"That's good Naruto." She lied. She wanted him to remember more about her, not just missions, and not just the frequent times he saved her ass.

"S-sakura-chan…I remember something else too…" He said.

"What is it Naruto?"She asked.

"I...remember…me saying I love you, and you saying you love Sasuke, and hate me…" He muttered.

"oh! Naruto, don't remember that! That was such a long time ago! Besides, Sasuke left the village for revenge…" Sakura responded to his memory.

"oh, im sorry then if you really did love him…" Naruto consoled her.

"you should get some sleep now Naruto." She said.

"oh, ok Sakura-chan" He rested his head on the pillow and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_Previous chapter:_

"S-sakura-chan…I remember something else too…" He said.

"What is it Naruto?"She asked.

"I...remember…me saying I love you, and you saying you love Sasuke, and hate me…" He muttered.

Never Forget: Chapter Four

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Next Morning - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Naruto woke up in a bright hospital room. Next to him was Sakura, asleep holding his hand.

"GAAAAAH! Sakura-chan!" he yelled, surprised that she was holding his hand.

"W-what? Is the hospital on fire?" she drearily replied.

"Sakura-chan! Your holding my hand! I mean I know I've been gone three years, but don't you have Ino to hang out with or something if you were that alone?" he said the first part loudly.

"Wait, Naruto, you remember her? Do you remember everything?" she asked quickly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" he said, puzzled.

_So he remembers everything but losing his memory…ironic huh? _She thought.

"So, you don't remember losing your memories?" she said.

"No, I guess not." said Naruto.

"Well then, I guess we'll have a lot to talk about over ... ramen?" she said.

"YESSSSS! Let's go!" Naruto said, only to wince and fall back on the bed.

"baka, you're still injured. why don't i go and bring some back?" said Sakura.

"REALLY SAKURA-CHAN? you're the BEST!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto?" Sakura said.

"yeah?" he replied.

"I love you"

- - - - - - - - - - The End - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry this last chapter is really short, most of it was taken up in the last chapter. Anyway, thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated! =)


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